The Perth Magistrates Court is set to become Australia’s first criminal court to operate entirely from electronic records as part of a new plan to make Western Australia’s justice system paper-free.

Attorney General Michael Mischin said the State Government had invested $A10 million to develop the Integrated Court Management System (ICMS), which was currently being trialled at the arrest and remand court at the Perth Magistrates Court.

Mr Mischin said the pilot project involved the electronic recording of court information that was previously manually recorded on a paper prosecution notice. The new system will be rolled out at all Magistrates Courts across the State in the next nine to 12 months

“The new case management system not only keeps and tracks details of court cases as they progress through the justice system, but has also been designed for the electronic lodgement, storage and transmission of court documents,” he said.

“As part of the trial, the Department of the Attorney General has worked closely with WA Police to create and lodge electronic prosecution notices and bail information which it is hoped to extend State-wide.

“This development represents the first step towards creating an electronic court system in WA, a move that will ultimately save the Magistrates Court from handling more than 100,000 paper documents a year.

“ICMS has been recognised internationally, with authorities in Michigan, USA, paying $A1.5 million to WA for a one-off licence to use the system.  Last week, the WA Government also signed a $A1 million agreement with the Australian Capital Territory to purchase and use ICMS.”

The Attorney General said the Government was working towards replacing the current paper-based processes between justice-related agencies such as the departments of Attorney General and Corrective Services, WA Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with the electronic system.

To date, the Department of the Attorney General has been successful in replacing some legacy systems, implementing a centralised bail module, establishing a single fines process and creating a ‘criminal portal’ to provide secure access to data for justice-related agencies.